Future Concerts

Three Choirs Festival

This year’s Festival will take place at Worcester between 24 and 31 July. There was no Festival last year.

Music by Holst will be performed as follows:-

Sunday 25 July – 2pm at College Hall – Holst’s Two Psalms.

Unfortunately, according to the TCF website, this concert has been sold out. However, it is possible that there may be some returns. If you are interested in attending, you will need to contact the Three Choirs Box Office beforehand. The website is at Home » Three Choirs Festival (3choirs.org).

Hopefully, there will be more Holst at Three Choirs next year which will be at Hereford. However, for those interested in the music of Vaughan Williams, the Vaughan Williams Society anticipates that there will be plenty of VW’s music next year, which will be VW 150, the 150^th anniversary of his birth.

Saturday 11 September 2021 – Holst and Vaughan Williams part-songs in Gloucester

This was originally to be a double programme arranged for Saturday 26 June, which had to be postponed due to Covid.

We are now having just the one concert at 2.45pm on Saturday 11^th September. Venue will be the Chapter House which adjoins Gloucester Cathedral. The programme will be as follows:-

Holst partsongs

The stars are with the voyager (H2)
Spring, it is cheery (H3)
O Lady, leave thy silken thread (H4)
Come away, Death (H48/4)
Now rest thee from all care (H78)
Diverus and Lazarus (H137)
In youth is pleasure (H76)
It was a lover and his lass (H59)

Unison songs

Playground Song (H118A)
O England my country (H103)
Roadways (H181)

A number of these partsongs will be receiving their first public performance.

Vaughan Williams partsongs/ choral work

Three English Folk Songs:-    Greensleeves
                                                As the tide was flowing
                                                The Turtle Dove

Five Mystical Songs

In addition, there may be some works by Holst and/or Vaughan Williams for solo voice and piano accompaniment, together with some piano music. Further details will be posted in due course.

Conductor – Adrian Partington, director of music at Gloucester Cathedral.

Singers – Gloucester Cathedral Singers – a professional group.

Tickets - £20 per person per concert. You must book a ticket in advance as numbers are limited.

Contact Chris Cope tel: 01769 580041. Email – chairman@holstsociety.org.

The concert should finish at 4.15pm. Choral Evensong will then take place in the Cathedral at 4.30pm. This will be an all-English programme including Stanford’s Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis in D, a Psalm Chant by Herbert Howells, the hymn Hills of the North Rejoice by Martin Shaw, the anthem Song of the Tree of Life by Vaughan Williams and the concluding organ voluntary will be Parry’s Fantasia and Fugue in G.

Evensong will be sung by the Gloucester Cathedral girl choristers. This Evensong will be the first time that the girls have performed as members of the Cathedral College.

AGM and recital

Saturday 11 December 2021 (afternoon). Although a long way ahead, we will be holding the Society’s AGM that afternoon (members only) followed by a recital which will be open to the public. Venue – TBA.

Programme – music for piano by Holst, Stephenson, Ireland and Littolf.

Soloist – James Willshire.

James has promised to include Holst’s Egdon Heath which he recently recorded in a new arrangement for piano by Iain Farrington.